<p>These were all topics an edition of ESPN’s “First Take” that concerned former Baylor QB and Washington Redskins star Robert Griffin III.</p>
<p>When asked about what RG3 had to say about being an African American quarterback, ESPN panelist Rob Parker, an African American himself, (Twitter handle @RobParkerESPN) had this to say. Transcriptions came from Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post.</p>

A 17-year-old Palestinian Authority Arab teenager was shot and killed on Wednesday evening after pulling a gun on Border Police officers near Hevron. The incident occurred at approximately 8:00 p.m. local time, when the teenage boy arrived at a Border Police position located the on the road connecting between Kiryat Arba and the Cave of the Patriarchs. As he approached of the officers, he was asked, as is usual procedure, to produce an ID card. As one of the officers was inspecting the ID card, the boy began to beat him with his fists, knocked him down and pulled out...

Members of an IDF unit stationed near Hevron shot an Arab terrorist as he prepared to throw a firebomb at them on Thursday evening. Arab reports claimed that the terrorist was seriously wounded and taken to hospital in the city. Earlier on Thursday, terrorists threw a firebomb at an IDF position in the city. There were no injuries or damages. Also on Thursday, three firebombs were thrown at an Israeli car travelling near Al-Khader, west of Bethlehem. There were no injuries or damages. Palestinian Authority Arabs rioted Thursday in Hevron, where they hurled rocks and bottles at Israeli soldiers. IDF...

ESPN’s Rob Parker dropped a bombshell today when he called NFL rookie star and MVP candidate Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III a “cornball brother.” That means, according to Parker, that RGIII isn’t a real black person, and that he might not be “one of us” or “down for the cause.” What was his justification? RGIII is engaged to a white woman, and could be a Republican. Seriously. ( video at link )

The Chairman of the Central Election Committee, Justice Elyakin Rubinstein, invalidated on Wednesday the election campaign of the Power to Israel party, headed by Aryeh Eldad, Michael Ben-Ari, Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir. One of the ads in the campaign that was invalidated contains the word "trust" written in Arabic, and below it are the words Â“there are no rights without obligationsÂ”, a play on the campaign used by the Yisrael Beytenu party in the 2009 elections: No loyalty, no citizenship". Rubinstein's decision was made after a complaint was filed to the Committee by former MK Mossi Raz, who is...

Avigdor Lieberman responded Thursday to the recent indictment of fraud and breach of trust brought against him, saying he has been the target of suspicion and questioning for a long time now. Hinting that he has no intention of resigning, he said he hopes the matter will be settled as soon as possible. The Attorney General charged that Lieberman used his influence to promote the former Israeli ambassador to Belarus because the ambassador illegally leaked information about an investigation against him. "The investigation against me has been going on for sixteen years," said Lieberman. "From July 1996 there has not...

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

In a new interview with Esquire, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reflects on his time in public office and shares what he’s learned about politics. “You can’t learn charisma,” said Schwarzenegger. “The power of influence is one of the most unique powers that you can have. It’s not the power of controlling people. It’s developing a certain skill of communicating what you want to accomplish so that people will follow you.” Schwarzenegger also said, “Be a public servant. Not a party servant,” a statement that isn’t surprising given the fact that his own views weren’t always in line with Republican doctrine....

An amended HB495 was passed by the Ohio Senate today by a 26-7 vote. The Ohio House is expected to hold a concurrence vote on the Senate version later today. The amended bill makes three changes to current law: * Eliminates the "demonstrated competency" requirement for second and future CHL renewals, making CHL training similar to a hunting license. * Fixes the definition of a "loaded gun" to match the commonly accepted definition. * Allows law-abiding gun owners to have their firearms stored in their cars in the state-owned parking garages such as the one under the Statehouse. Unfortunately, despite...

Thumb through any personal finance book written over the last five years and chances are you'll come across at least a handful of chapters on how cutting daily luxuries like coffee and cable. It's that kind of finger-wagging criticism that's rubbed so many hardworking people wrong –– the idea that they wouldn't be in this position if only they'd watched less TV, traded in their car, or tried cooking more meals at home. In case you're in need of a reminder of the bigger picture, Personal finance expert Helaine Olen nails the issue right on its ugly head in her...

Forensics profiler deconstructs Barack Obama COACH COLLINS, ON DECEMBER 13TH, 2012 by George Spelvin, staff writer Cutting edge forensic profiler, Dr. Andrew G. Hodges, is using his skills to decode the psychological construct of President Barack Obama to uncover the reasons for what the doctor believes to be the poresident’s “deep misguided fury … toward America.” Using a method he calls thought print decoding, Hodges explains the shadow side which Obama reveals in his speeches and especially his letters to his daughters. “These communications result from part of the subconscious called super intelligence,” says Hodges. (1) Thought print decoding enables...

The White House and the nation’s most prominent charities are embroiled in a tense, behind-the-scenes debate over President Obama’s push to scale back the nearly century-old tax deduction on donations that the charities say is crucial for their financial health. In a series of recent meetings and calls, top White House aides have pressed nonprofit groups to line up behind the president’s plan for reducing the federal deficit and averting the year-end “fiscal cliff,” according to people familiar with the talks. In part, the White House is seeking to win the support of nonprofit groups for Obama’s central demand that...

It’s no secret that federal workers are feeling worn down. They’ve had their salaries frozen and are at the center of a partisan debate over the value of their work. A report due out Thursday, based on the largest sample ever of the workforce of 2 million, confirms a steady decline in morale and ebbing commitment. Despite positive feedback at some agencies, job satisfaction across the government has hit its lowest point in almost a decade. Just 52.9 percent of employees at the sprawling Department of Homeland Security, for example, are satisfied with their jobs, making it the lowest-ranked large...

Denial-of-Service assault - Third time in three days their website won't load - I'm thinking targeted drone missile strikes could solve this malicious hacker issue in a couple days - Spammers would be next on my "Ka-Boom List"

snip “But time and time we keep hearing this, so it just makes me wonder deeper about him,” Parker went on. “And I’ve talked to some people down in Washington D.C., friends of mine, who are around and at some of the press conferences, people I’ve known for a long time. But my question, which is just a straight honest question. Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother?” What does that mean, Parker was asked. “Well, [that] he’s black, he kind of does his thing, but he’s not really down with the cause, he’s not one of...

Barbra Streisand on love and politics By CAITLIN MCDEVITT | 12/13/12 1:36 PM EST Reuters Reuters Republicans hoping to romance Barbra Streisand are out of luck. Asked by CNN’s Piers Morgan if she’s “ever been in love with a Republican,” the famously liberal actress replied: “Never.” "Could you ever be?” Morgan followed up. "No," she replied. "Well, I mean unless there was an enormous sexual chemistry and, you know, and I had to - we never talked about politics, maybe. But I can't quite imagine it, no."

AUSTRALIA'S Super Hornet fighter-bombers, including 12 fitted out for the RAAF as "Growler" electronic warfare aircraft, will be a major part of the nation's arsenal for many years and will not merely be a stopgap until the arrival of the promised Joint Strike Fighter. Defence Minister Stephen Smith said yesterday that, quite apart from bridging a capability gap if the new JSFs were delayed, the government was now looking at the longer-term use of the Super Hornet and the Growler. Mr Smith said that, putting aside concerns about delays to the JSFs, standard Super Hornets and Growlers used by the...

A Democratic senator hired an unpaid intern who was an undocumented immigrant but a documented sex offender. Apparently Senator Menendez needed an immigrant to do sex offending that Americans won’t do. Meanwhile, Representative Jim Moran is “embarrassed” by the revelation that his voter-fraud-orchestrating son smashed his girlfriend’s face into a garbage can and pleaded guilty to assault. The girlfriend appears to be doing what she can to make the story go away. But don’t worry, the phrase “war on women” may still only be used to describe people who don’t want to pay for someone else’s birth control. ... Obama’s...

HONOLULU – Hawaii, at last. President Obama’s delayed Christmas vacation began at 11:42 p.m. (Hawaii time – 4:42 a.m. on the East Coast) when Air Force One touched down at Hickam Air Force Base here. Mr. Obama stepped off the plane into the sultry Hawaiian darkness with two members of Congress, Senator Daniel Akaka and Representative Mazie Hirono, both Democrats of Hawaii, who accompanied him for the 10-hour flight home. The president hopped into his S.U.V., and his motorcade sped off in a hurry to take him to his wife and daughters, who left Washington Saturday for their luxury rented...

Republicans are failing to define their party's purpose during the fiscal-cliff talks. After the presidential election, the biggest question out there is: What should the Republican Party stand for? The fiscal cliff, no matter the result, was an instant opportunity to elevate the party's basic beliefs. Instead the GOP is disappearing beneath waves of Beltway process. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have worked hard to keep their thumbs stuck in the dam of rising tax rates. Still, the fiscal cliff is looking more each day like an inside-the-Beltway CYA operation. Does anyone in the country beyond the halls of Congress...

What separated the likes of Huelskamp and Amash from Labrador and Mulvaney was not opposition to budget compromises. The big, obvious difference in their voting records is that Huelskamp and Amash flip-flopped on the budget written by Paul Ryan and voted with Democrats to kill it in committee. The Ryan budget, which had been hailed in 2011 by Rush Limbaugh as “substantively superb and politically brilliant,” squeaked through the Budget Committee in 2012 on a 19-18 vote.

President Obama is on his way to a delayed Hawaiian vacation with his family now that the showdown over extending the payroll tax cut has been settled. He called it “some good news just in the nick of time for the holidays.” Before leaving the White House the president signed the bill extending the payroll tax cut for two months. It will affect 160 million American workers. Mr. Obama acted Friday after the House and Senate approved the 2 percent tax cut extension. The legislation also extends unemployment insurance for jobless workers and forces Mr. Obama to make a decision...

Public Safety Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan — who is stepping down amid a flurry of controversy — may be in line for a judgeship, Gov. Deval Patrick suggested this afternoon. Asked by a Herald reporter at a State House press conference today whether he intended to nominate Heffernan to become a judge, Patrick grinned widely. “Well, you know, she’d make a great judge,” said Patrick. “And that’s all I’ll say about that right now.” Heffernan was listed as a reference on the job application of Sheila Burgess, the state’s ex-highway safety director who resigned after her checkered, four-page driving record...

PHILADELPHIA - It's a union protest designed to bring you to tears. Residents at the Vista apartment building on the 2800 block. of N. 47th St. in Philadelphia's Wynnefield section are losing their minds over a recording played by protesters from IBEW local 98. Last Wednesday, the union set up an iPod and loudspeakers that plays this recorded message: "Your community is crying for jobs, participation and fair wages." It's what comes next that brings a tear to the eye: an extended crying jag by a seemingly fussy infant. The recording- which began last Wednesday- runs each weekday from around...

Boehner plans to leave Washington amid "fiscal cliff" stalemate Reuters – 29 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner plans to go home to Ohio on Friday, his office said, in a sign that there is no deal in sight to avert the looming "fiscal cliff." Spokesman Michael Steel added, however, that should President Barack Obama decide he needs to talk or meet with Boehner again, "Ohio has both cell phone service and airports - so ... it won't be a problem." Steel said Boehner - the top Republican in Congress - will likely...

Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, Speaker Philip Gunn, and a host of other Republican elected and party officials will welcome a new member to the ever growing GOP in Mississippi Tuesday. It appears that Freshman State Representative Jason White of House District 48 is set to announce that he is switching parties, pushing the Republican majority up to 65 in the Mississippi House of Representatives. House District 48 has long been primed to go red. If you will recall, the Democratic leadership under former Speaker Billy McCoy sought to eliminate HD 48 during redistricting back in 2011 because...

After New Mexico police revealed they’d uncovered an alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill Justin Bieber, the Canadian pop star’s management has released a statement saying they take “every precaution to protect and insure the safety of Justin and his fans.” Other than that, the star and his security team have been tight-lipped about how seriously they take the threat. News of the bizarre assassination plot made news around the world Wednesday after Albuquerque’s KRQE reported that Mark Staake, 41, and his nephew Tanner Ruane, 23, had allegedly been hired to castrate and murder the singer. The puppet master behind the...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify on Dec. 20 before the House of Representatives and Senate foreign affairs committees on a report on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, the committees said on Wednesday. The attack on Sept. 11 killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, and raised questions about the adequacy of security in far-flung posts. Republicans have criticized Democratic President Barack Obama's administration for its flawed early public explanations of the attack. They have also criticized shifting explanations of why talking points given to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations...

<p>As you probably know, grassroots conservatives are up in arms over the fact that some conservatives Members were “purged” from committee assignments.</p>
<p>Now, it seems Republican leadership is aiming to make matters even worse.</p>

Here's an encouraging update on the nationwide legal challenges to ObamaCare by religious institutions that will be forced to provide insurance coverage for such things as abortion drugs, birth control and sterilizations that violate their beliefs. This story is a week old, actually. Strangely, you haven't seen any real coverage of this development in mainstream media, perhaps because it concerns a crucial legal setback for Barack Obama and Kathleen Sebelius in a New York federal court. As is Eric Holder's style when his Justice Department is challenged, he attempts not to argue the typically weak legal issues he has but...

Here's an encouraging update on the nationwide legal challenges to ObamaCare by religious institutions that will be forced to provide insurance coverage for such things as abortion drugs, birth control and sterilizations that violate their beliefs. This story is a week old, actually. Strangely, you haven't seen any real coverage of this development in mainstream media, perhaps because it concerns a crucial legal setback for Barack Obama and Kathleen Sebelius in a New York federal court. As is Eric Holder's style when his Justice Department is challenged, he attempts not to argue the typically weak legal issues he has but...

The FDA is raising hackles over the equivalent of an espresso shot in a bottle: the popular 5-Hour Energy drink that has billions of dollars in sales over the past decade. 5 hour The hubbub over 5-Hour Energy, which has some fans stockpiling 12-packs of the bottles in anticipation of a possible ban, was sparked by an article in the New York Times claiming that 5-Hour Energy has been “linked” to 13 deaths reported to the FDA in the past four years. In truth, millions of bottles of 5-Hour Energy are consumed every week, and there is no evidence whatsoever...

Nations in the Middle East, some of whom were once allies of the U.S., appear to be defying America. This is very evident when reviewing the events over the past six months in Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, and also among the Palestinians. As former Vice President Dick Cheney stated, "[o]ur allies no longer trust us, or have confidence in us, and our adversaries no longer fear us." The problem is also that America's allies in the region are dwindling while its adversaries are increasing. American Thinker interviewed experts to get their opinion about this very important issue. In Iraq,...

Christmas music makes us spend more Endless loops of songs like "All I Want For Christmas" in shops during the festive season don't just drive us mad - they also make us more careless with our money, academics have warned. By Nick Collins, Science Correspondent 4:32PM GMT 13 Dec 2012 While repeated renditions of "Jingle Bells" may seem like an innocent attempt to raise customers' spirits during the nightmare of Christmas shopping, the songs also have a more subtle impact. Background music, or "Muzak", can be used by marketers to impose cultures - such as the commercialisation of Christmas -...

US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rogers says there is "real concern" WMDs could be deployed at "moment's notice." Photo: Courtesy Syria's chemical weapons could be used at "a moment's notice" and the international community should not accept any assurances from Syrian officials that they will not be used, US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said on Wednesday.US and other Western officials recently issued sharp warnings to Syrian President Bashar Assad not to deploy chemical weapons. Syria called those warnings a "pretext for intervention" in the civil war. Related: 'UK plans to provide military aid to Syria rebels' US recognizes...

Summary Welcome to Middle East Live.Here's a roundup of the latest developments: Barack Obama said the US will formally recognise the Syrian opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, in a move designed to sap the legitimacy of President Bashar al-Assad's rule. In an interview with ABC News he said: "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population, that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime."

Thousands of area children might go without toys this holiday season thanks to a Grinch-like move from the Postal Service. Normally this time of year, boxes of gifts pack the Toys for Tots warehouses. But not this season. Toy donations are so low, Toys for Tots officials worry they won't have enough gifts for the estimated 40,000 boys and girls on their lists. 'I'm losing sleep,' said Herb Donica, chairman of the committee that supports the Toys for Tots campaign in Hillsborough County. 'All of our core people are pulling their hair out wondering what we are going to do.''...

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Changes in San Diego voter demographics that became apparent with the election of Bob Filner as mayor are probably permanent, with the city's political power shifting toward independents and residents south of Interstate 8, according to a study released Wednesday. The National University System Institute for Policy Research found that Mayor Bob Filner's election victory over ex-Councilman Carl DeMaio was fueled by voters south of the freeway that runs through Mission Valley. The freeway is a traditional, but not entirely accurate, dividing line between economic "haves'' and "have-nots'' and a border between Republican- and Democratic-leaning enclaves.

In 2011, the United States produced about 78 quadrillion Btu (quads) of energy, more than at any point in the nation's history. More than three-quarters of this energy production came from nonrenewable fossil fuels: coal, natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas plant liquids. Despite rising production, the United States was a net energy importer, consuming more than 97 quads of energy in 2011. The 60.6 quads of domestic fossil fuel production set a record, exceeding the previous peak of 59.3 quads in 1998. Of those fuels, natural gas surpassed coal as the most-produced fuel with 23.5 quads compared to...

People who watch non-competition reality shows are more extroverted, neurotic and have a lower self-esteem, according to a new study. The survey, conducted by Today.com polled 19,000 people and found that "those who watched non-competition reality shows are more extroverted, neurotic and have lower self-esteem than watchers who are not fans of the genre." Additionally, the survey found that 72% of women and 60% of men watch Reality television simply because they're bored. Also, 46% of women and 26% of men watch this genre because they like to see how people with money and fame live their lives. Deadliest Catch...

Facebook is the number one company to work for in the world, according to a new study by Glassdoor.com. The career site ranked the 50 best companies to work for based on employee reviews and other corporate data and found that the social media website tops them all. Facebook employees gave the company a 4.6 rating on a scale of 5.0 with a majority saying they are "Very Satisfied." The company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, received a 97 percent approval rating. Some of the pros reported by Facebook employees included smart and driven employees, vision of management and the ability to...

During an appearance on the program of MSNBC’s race-baiter-in-chief Al Sharpton, entertainer Harry Belafonte lashed out at Republicans, saying that their continued presence in Washington, DC constituted an “infection” of sorts. He also told his host that the only thing left for Obama to do with opposition figures who continue to disagree with him was to “Work like a Third World dictator and just put all these guys in jail.” Belafonte’s totalitarian prescription elicited a laugh rather than horror from Sharpton. View video below the jump.

The father of a U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico after being caught with his grandfather's antique shotgun heard the fear in his son's voice and felt helpless. The phone call came at midnight from Mexico's notorious CEDES prison, where Jon Hammar Jr. has been held since August. The caller demanded $1,800, then put Hammar on to drive the point home. "They're serious, Dad," Jon Hammar Sr. heard his son say. "I'll pay you back; they are going to kill me." Hammar, who faced down Iraqi insurgents in the final push on Fallujah in 2004, has been in dangerous situations before....

A new poll finds that a majority of voters would blame both President Obama and congressional Republicans equally if efforts to find a deficit deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” fail. Fifty-six percent surveyed in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll say both sides would be responsible if a compromise is not reached. Nineteen percent would blame Obama and Democrats only, with 24 percent saying the GOP would be at fault. Those numbers could suggest a shift in public opinion as both parties work to find a way to prevent tax rate hikes and automatic spending cuts from taking...

A Chinese government airplane entered Japanese airspace over the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Thursday in the first such airspace intrusion in Japan, prompting an immediate protest from the Japanese government. The Air Self-Defense Force scrambled F-15 fighter jets to the area after one of China's State Oceanic Administration airplanes was spotted at 11:06 a.m. about 15 kilometers south of Uotsuri Island, one of the Japanese-administered Senkakus claimed by China, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters. It is the first-ever intrusion by China into Japanese airspace since Tokyo started tallying the number of such intrusions...

TOKYO — Japan scrambled eight fighter jets on Thursday after a Chinese state-owned plane breached its airspace for the first time, over islands at the center of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing. It was the first incursion by a Chinese state aircraft into Japanese airspace anywhere since the country’s military began monitoring in 1958, the defense ministry said. The move marks a ramping-up of what observers suggest is a Chinese campaign to create a “new normal”—where its forces come and go as they please around islands which Beijing calls the Diaoyus, but Tokyo controls as the Senkakus. It also...

According to reports several Norwegina citizens have joined militants groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Norwegina intelligence officials have confirmed the report and said the citizens fought on the side of insurgents and even shot at NATO-led international troops that have included Norwegian soldiers.